[Understanding of workplace health promotion by occupational medicine physicians and perception of their roles in the implementation of relevant programs].

BACKGROUND: The author addresses the issue of workplace health promotion (WHP) concept and its understanding by occupational medicine physicians as well as the perception of their roles in the implementation of WHP programs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data presented result from a part of a comprehensive survey carried out by the National Center for Workplace Health Promotion in 2002. The study covers a random sample of 325 physicians specialized in occupational or industrial medicine who attended at least 400 patients.

RESULTS: The survey reveals that about 50% of respondents neither understand the concept of WHP nor the essential rules governing its organization. They perceive WHP as a novel label applied to the traditional prophylactics and health education. They do not comprehend that it is a new orientation of the system and a setting-based approach to initiatives in this area. Although, near 90% of them believe that the occupational medicine profession should be involved in health promotion, yet when directly asked about personal involvement only every tenth respondent was ready to play a leading role in a WHP program, whereas 63% of physicians wanted to limit the program to healthy life style education among workers and 54% wanted to only expand health checkups.

CONCLUSIONS: The observed attitudes towards WHP in the profession and perception of their roles in its programs implementation clearly show an urgent need to provide an ongoing training of physicians in workplace health promotion and to convince them that WHP is a new area of expertise to be developed and a vital determinant of health promotion at workplaces in Poland.